Former presidential candidate and successful CEO Herman Cain participated in a jobs forum at the University of Michigan last week. During his presentation, Cain told several hundred students that they'll enjoy at least one significant advantage when the enter the job market, triggering an interesting response from a handful of hecklers:

Cain: "This is the greatest country in the world."

Students: "Not," "It's not!"

The rest of the audience gasped, booed, and a few chanted "U-S-A." Cain then launched into an epic impromptu monologue about the greatness of America -- her liberties, her prosperity, her military strength, and her opportunities -- bringing the crowd to its feet. Pure awesome:

"If this is not the greatest country in the world, leave!"

For more data and perspective on America's singular exceptionalism on the landscape of world history, read this, this, this and this. It's also interesting to note which end of our domestic political spectrum spends the most energy informing their fellow Americans that our nation really isn't all that great: Entitled undergraduates (see above), the ranting, fictional "news" anchors, as imagined by Hollywood, sanctimonious blowhards and fawning Sinophiles at the New York Times, and, at times, even the President of the United States. I can think of no more eloquent recent paean to America's exceptional greatness than Condoleezza Rice's address at the Republican National Convention (17:25 for a highlight):

I think when Axelrod and his commie buddies set out to destroy your public reputation ~ with truth or lies ~ they have the resources to do that, and if they wished they could kill you and not look back.

Hilarious stuff. The Democrats would have loved to run against Cain. He had NO chance of winning the nomination and was just a Pretend Candidate, useful only to split the Right and help Romney get nominated. The Right falls for these stunts EVERY time: Huckabee, Thompson, Duncan Hunter. It is as predictable as Charlie Brown trying to kick that football.

My motive is simple don’t let stupidity harm the conservative movement. Cain was a joke as a politician. I love the guy but him running for the presidency is like me walking in off the street and trying out to be the Quarterback of the Chicago Bears without ever having played football.

If he was serious he would have moved to some safe district gotten elected to the House served a few terms moved on to a higher office, etc.

Politics is AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN very serious stuff and is a profession, Plato called politics the “highest art”. It is NOT business nor making war nor social change but all of them and more. Cain had fun playing with rhetoric but that is all it was.

Please don’t embarrass yourself any further. GW served MULTIPLE terms in the House of Burgesses in Virginia along with other elected offices in the Colony. TJ was Congressman from Virginia, Governor of Virginia, Ambassador to France, Vice President, Secretary of State. FDR was Secretary of the Navy, Governor of NY. Lincoln was a Representative and deeply involved in Illinois politics for 20 yrs before running for the Presidency.

Every one of our Presidents, even the supremely UNqualified Obama, was more qualified to be president than Cain.

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